Significant difficulties are experienced by users when complex programmable devices having multiple commands which are infrequently used or programmed by those users. Further, when a user attempts to use an uncommon or rarely used function of these devices, which may be, for example video cassette recorders (hereinafter "VCRs") difficulties are also encountered. For example, studies have concluded that 80% of users cannot correctly program their VCRs. This has been due, in part, to the fact that manufacturers continue to add more features to existing devices, without simplifying those which already exist. Another problem has been the failure of manufacturers to design products in which the control interface adapts to the behavior of the user or to allow a system to be adaptive to the behaviors of a plurality of users.
People learn most efficiently through the interactive experiences of doing, thinking, and knowing. Learning may often be facilitated by observing an experienced teacher. For ease-of-use, efficiency, and lack of frustration of the user, utilizing the device should be intuitive. Users should be able to operate the device without referring to an instruction manual. Often, actual working examples are helpful. Well-designed products should contain visual clues which prompt and convey their meanings, however, prior art devices do not always live up to this ideal. This problem of insufficient perceptual clues to cue the user as to the identity and nature of available choices is accentuated by various manufacturers and designers who focus on the production and design of feature-rich systems, rather than on ones which are also "User Friendly" and thus easier to use. Therefore, many products are extremely complex and thus difficult to use, thereby preventing all but the most technically advanced people from using them. Other products are simple to use for a low level of functionality, but make it extremely difficult to transcend an arbitrary barrier set by the interface designer.
Some display systems have a higher available resolution than others, and the interface is preferably arranged to optimize the intended display for the resolution limits and display format of the intended or available display device. Further, even with sufficient resolution, certain displays are of small size, and thus the visibility of the information may also be optimized by taking into consideration the size, resolution, contrast, brightness of the display, ambient conditions, characteristics of the human visual system, factors specific for a known user, and the available options of the apparatus. Thus, the interface may employ a number of methods to optimize the visibility of the information for a variety of display devices, storage formats and transmission standards. Known display standards and types include: NTSC, PAL, SECAM, CCIR-601, HDTV, MUSE, IDTV, VHS, S-VHS, Beta, SuperBeta, 8 mm, Hi-8 mm, videotel or picturephone (P.times.64), H.261, MPEG-1, MPEG-2. JPEG, computer display standards (CGA, HGC, EGA, PGA, VGA, SVGA, XGA, Macintosh (TM), 8514, Private Eye (TM) (a small reflection-scanned LED line array for projecting a virtual display image in front of the eye, available from Reflection Technology, Inc.), LCD, etc., each of which may have a number of size ranges, e.g. about 1 cm.sup.2 to about 10 m.sup.2, with a resolution range including displays having about 16 dot matrix characters or more or about 16 by 64 pixels to about 2,048 by 2,048 pixels. Techniques such as antialiasing, font substitution, hinting, precompensating for expected distortion, etc., are all known employed to improve the readability of the display under various circumstances.